It occurred to me that I never made my regular end-of-semester posting. I guess that's because I never that the semester would end. Or maybe, because once it did end, I was so miserable I did not want to talk about it. Anyway, I'll recap. Essentially, this was the least fulfilling semester ever. It was really hard adjusting to having Alex in our world, and I am not sure I ever really adjusted until the very end of the term.

The semester started off with a bang, having two big papers due the second week of classes. In order to complete them, I fell behind in my reading for all three of my classes, and never really caught up. Once Michelle went back to work in October, it really hit the fan. I was having a hard time separating from Alex, so I didn't really arrange much day care for him. Whenever I wasn't in class, I would take him with me to the office. Which prevented me from doing much school work, or church work. So, I knew that could not last. So, I started leaving him with his care-giver more often. Then, we discovered that she was in violation of basically every major law that governs in-home child care. So, we pulled him from there, and arranged for the woman that runs the nursery at the church where I work to watch him.

This was to be a great arrangement She was going to watch him at the church, so if anything were to happen, I would be right there. Plus, I could see him whenever I wanted; he was only a couple of minutes away. However, this care-giver started having some problems with high blood pressure, after only a week to two of watching him. So, we were back to square one, with no child care. The last few weeks of classes, we had a patchwork of friends watch him, but that meant me driving him out into the suburbs at the crack of dawn, and frequently getting to my classes (which are in mid-town) late. Some days, we could find no child-care at all, and I had to miss class. I missed one class twice, and each of my other two classes once each. That makes it tough to keep up.

Finally, by the end of the semester, we had found a reputable day-care where he could go. So, next semester should be much smoother. He has been going there all this week and is loving it. He gets to play with several other babies there, and gets a lot of personal attention. We are really happy with the situation now.

Back in October, the day after Michelle and I got our flu shots, I came down with a sinus infection. Unfortunately, it has never quite gone away. I went to the doctor yesterday, and discovered that in addition to the sinus infection, I have an infection in my lungs. The doctor was a little concerned that it could turn into pneumonia, so he gave me a strong antibiotic. I felt considerably better today. However, Michelle and I are not quite sure if we will be well enough to travel for Christmas. Two weekends ago, right before final exams, I came down with a stomach virus that knocked me out for a couple of days. It took about a week for Michelle to get it, and when she did, it was even worse. She missed several days of work, and just went back today. Which was the last full day of the semester for her. So, we have been just wrecked for quite a while.

She has a meeting early tomorrow morning, after which I am going to stop by with Alex for all her co-workers to meet. After that, I am going to drop him off at daycare, and Michelle and I are going to have some free time. Which will include a long nap for her, I think, and some guitar playing for me.

Also, during all this time, we have been searching for a new apartment. We found one that we really like, and signed the lease last week. We have been gradually moving stuff in, with the plan to move the big stuff (and be completely out of our old apartment) on the 29th. On the 27th, Michelle is going to have a treatment done on her back, because she has a ruptured disc. All of this has just been insane. We are praying that the treatment will work, so she can avoid surgery. If she has to have surgery, she will miss considerable time from work. I sort of dropped the idea to my senior pastor that if that happens, I may have to seek a full-time position somewhere. To which he replied that he may not let me leave...lol. Hopefully, everything will work out.

Alex is doing really well. I took him to the pediatrician today for his monthly RSV shot, and he weighed in at exactly 13 lbs, with some light clothes on. He seems to be getting ready to pop a tooth out; we are hoping it will be out before Christmas. That would be a great present for the grandparents. Also, in the biggest news of late, he no longer has to wear his heart monitor! YAY! He spent last Thursday night at the sleep lab, and got a great report. So, he no longer needs his monitor. The company that owns it is picking it up tomorrow. We are really excited! It was great to have it, since it gave us a lot of peace of mind, but we are glad that he no longer needs it. He is developing really well. He ate some Cheerios today for the first time. That was really exciting. He liked them a lot. We had dinner at a New-York style pizza place that recently opened nearby, and Alex licked some marinara sauce off my finger. He liked that, too. Although, marinara sauce is not exactly on the list of approved foods, so don't tell anyone. SHHHH! He is eating all his vegetables (except peas), and enjoys his cereals and fruits. He is doing so well!

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

This ad for the Apple Lisa, from around 1983-84, has recently found new life among Apple enthusiasts. See if you can identify the at-the-time unknown actor in the ad. Also, check out the mouse, which reminds me of both the first garage door opener and the first TV remote control I ever saw. Vintage!

This afternoon, Michelle and I went to Sam's Club to get some stuff. Alex had fallen asleep in the car, but as soon as we went in the store, he woke up, opened his eyes and began to look around. I casually waved my hand in his direction, and said, "You do not need to see anything here. This is not the store you were looking for. You may go back to sleep now." He immediately closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Using the force on your own child is awesome!

I forgot to tell a funny story that happened on Thanksgiving...

After we had eaten, my older brother Tim and I were upstairs in the loft of our parents' house. This is where my dad keeps his guitars, stereo, CD's, and books and other media-type stuff. I was strumming some chords when, out of nowhere, Tim sees the CD of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". He made a comment that we should slide across the floor on it, just for old times' sake.

FLASHBACK: When we were little kids (I was probably about 4-5, and Tim is almost two years older than I), we decided one day that we would use our dad's copy of this record as sort of a skateboard. So, we took the vinyl record out of its sleeve, and proceeded to start sliding around the floor on it. Soon after, our dad came into the room, and was none too pleased. Uh, actually, I guess you can say he was furious...LOL. One vinyl record, ruined. The term "time-out" wasn't en vogue back then, but you could say we were in time out. Probably for about two weeks. At least.

FLASH FORWARD: When Tim said that we should reprise our shenanigans, I said, "Follow me." I took the CD downstairs, and went to the entrance of the west (front) entrance of the kitchen. Dad was standing at the north (side) entrance. I then slid the CD's jewel case, face-up, across the kitchen floor, where it stopped at my dad's feet. He looked down, saw which CD it was, and started laughing. Our mom turned to see what was going on, and she also got the joke. Everyone else there had no idea what was going on, but our parents, Tim, and I were all laughing like crazy. Fun times, indeed.